White Nose Syndrome is a fungal infection impacting the bat population. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) is investigating two recent potential occurrences of white-nose syndrome (WNS) in bats in Virginia. While conducting winter surveys of caves where bats hibernate, known as hibernacula, biologists and volunteers from VDGIF, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Virginia Speleological Survey discovered bats that showed signs of WNS in Breathing Cave in Bath County. Soon after, similar symptoms were found in bats in Clover Hollow Cave in Giles County. Specimens were collected and sent to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The results are still pending.
Due to concerns about spread of WNS, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and US Fish and Wildlife have requested a voluntary moratorium on all caving activities in states where WNS has been identified. VGDIF is asking private landowners with caves on their properties to consider closing their caves temporarily. Caving groups and individuals who enjoy caving are being asked to respect this temporary closure of Virginia caves and to suspend recreational and research caving activities until more information about the cause and spread of WNS can be determined.
What does this mean for SUUSI? It has been decided by SUUSI leadership to cancel all caving trips including the two trips offered to Dixie Caverns. This decision was made due to the request for a voluntary moratorium as well as in support of our UU principle to “respect the interdependent web of all existence.†Bats play a very important role in the natural chain and we must as UU's respect the danger we may potentially bring to the bat population if we enter caves.
SUUSI's own, Ken Schmidt, gave an excellent presentation on this topic at SUUSI 2009. A copy of the presentation is available here.
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